Rare ponies on eBay?

[Sunset]

I guess I don’t understand the email restriction because can’t he just turn off notifications?  Set his phone on night mode?  Eh, but at this point I’m just a spectator.    I don’t think I’m going to be able to afford anything anyway.

[banditpony]

I guess I don’t understand the email restriction because can’t he just turn off notifications?  Set his phone on night mode?

I think he doesn't want to wake up to 20 questions. It's a weird request IMO, but I don't find it too restrictive.

Everything he said was probably based on everything that happened in the first round.

There are people in this world that TYPE LIKE THIS!! OR THAT?? he's typed in caps this whole time-- it's annoying, and it makes what he's typing look worse. But *shrug*. Is it THAT big of a deal?

ETA:
I guess my opinion is because I know people who type like that and are blunt.. but it's not what it seems. He's obviously been nice in correspondence in the past week. And he's shipped items super fast.

[Taffeta]

This sellers new terms is worrying. Release an address of NPBs? Blocked for asking questions between certain times. WTF?

Yeah, like, how do those non US people dare to bother him during their time zone? Geez!

Seems like anything but bidding is reason enough for them to block. They will loose a lot of customers...

He also said he would stop using gsp...has he?

Such terms also suggest much trolling on the last lot.

[Noasar]

If people voted with their feet and didn’t bid I’m sure he would soon change his tune once he saw that his attitude affected his sales. Unfortunately, what he is selling is just too good so people will still buy from him, no matter how rude he is.

[Ponyfan]

I don’t have the funds to bid on any of these amazing MOC/MIB ponies but I will be an interested observer.

I do feel bad for our friends outside of the US that will have trouble messaging the seller during his time window.

I guess the seller got tons of questions asking whether he had certain ponies he was going to list. He could word his message a little more nicely though.

Ponyfan

[banditpony]

This sellers new terms is worrying. Release an address of NPBs? Blocked for asking questions between certain times. WTF?

Yeah, like, how do those non US people dare to bother him during their time zone? Geez!

Seems like anything but bidding is reason enough for them to block. They will loose a lot of customers...

He also said he would stop using gsp...has he?

Such terms also suggest much trolling on the last lot.

It sounds like some of the listings now do not offer any international shipping based on the comments of not being able to view listings here

[Taffeta]

I find myself sympathising a bit with this guy. I am imagining he didn't just have messages about what he has to list. This is the kind of scenario where those disgusting people emerge - the ones who send messages saying I'll give you $200 for x pony if you close the auction early. Imagine that x 90 and anyone would flip their lid, right? He did give permission for his pics to be used on Wiki and Chrissytree's site, so it's not like he's hostile. I think he's been overwhelmed. And also been messed about by troll bids.

I think that international would appear in the list of rules if it were actively being blocked. He also said he wasn't going to use GSP again. Two of his auctions have it but the rest don't. Maybe he doesn't know how to add other shipping options if he doesn't usually ship overseas. If he wasn't willing to do that the time zone comment seems redundant. (Giving a clue as to what time zone he is in would help with the Googling though).

He might have opened a new can of worms, because it's easy to find those auctions. Two show up on ebay uk but it's not hard to change .co.uk to .com. I am sure I'm not the only one who browses ebay in both sites through force of habit, so he might get a lot more questions about international shipping.

For the most part it's possible to PM someone in a US timezone from Europe at least without staying up to unsociable hours. So that's not a huge deal, just a bit more info would be nice.

On balance, I think this the fault of the trolling bidders and the disgusting brigade who try to ruin these things for all of us. It casts shade on us as a community, because someone from outside isn't going to know that we're the real collectors and the trolls are trolls - but there we are. Unfortunately this is what happens when you put a video on youtube about something. It's not a good idea since it attracts people other than those who legitimately want to collect the items with the minimum of fuss...

Will be interesting to see if this round goes differently but I suspect Noasar is right and people will pay still for the rarer ones. People will put up with a lot and take risk sometimes for a rare item.

I am also a spectator. I love seeing them but them being US packaged makes it easy to step back and wish everyone else luck

(Adore seeing those flutters though <3)

[LadyMoondancer]

About the caps, it's just the way he types.  Yeah, it's a bit annoying but . . . *shrug*  I corresponded with him a bit (just to make sure he was going to send the MOCs in boxes, not bubble mailers--I didn't even bid on anything, just wanted to make sure, ha ha) and he was perfectly nice.  But everything was indeed in caps.

I think what he has, has resulted in him getting a lot of trolls, skeevy bidders, and probably people trying to trick him into selling valuable items for very cheap 'under the table.'  He could have responded better, but . . . I get why he's aggravated.  And he's not even selling them for himself, but for his buddy who bought the storage unit. I imagine, or at least hope, that his friend is giving him a cut of the profits.   But if a friend wanted me to sell a lot like that, I might refuse.  Not sure it's worth the money.

[freezestime]

Heads up, he's listed 6 new MOC ponies. Baby softsteps, cloud dreamer, baby sweetsteps, pina colada, mainsail and Tootie tails.

Tux n Tails plus Mommy and Baby's returned, as well as first tooth baby bouncy and dance n prance twirler.

Dance n prance player added.

PROM QUEEN PRETTY BELLE AND SWEET SUNDROP LISTED their shipping is over $100 AUD though.

[toyjunky]

I think he may be listing them in the evening (or at the moment he is). I am in the same time zone and as I was looking at the auctions that just went up today I am seeing new ones pop up in the listing. As of 10:45pm on 3/17/19 there are 30 auctions now listed from that seller.

[freezestime]

I think he may be listing them in the evening (or at the moment he is). I am in the same time zone and as I was looking at the auctions that just went up today I am seeing new ones pop up in the listing. As of 10:45pm on 3/17/19 there are 30 auctions now listed from that seller.

Really? I'm only getting 13.

Post Merge: March 17, 2019, 11:14:38 PM

Heads up, he's listed 6 new MOC ponies. Baby softsteps, cloud dreamer, baby sweetsteps, pina colada, mainsail and Tootie tails.

Tux n Tails plus Mommy and Baby's returned, as well as first tooth baby bouncy and dance n prance twirler.

Dance n prance player added.

PROM QUEEN PRETTY BELLE AND SWEET SUNDROP LISTED their shipping is over $100 AUD though.

One listing, two boxes of MLP petite ponies.

[heftysmurf76]

I think that international would appear in the list of rules if it were actively being blocked. He also said he wasn't going to use GSP again. Two of his auctions have it but the rest don't. Maybe he doesn't know how to add other shipping options if he doesn't usually ship overseas. If he wasn't willing to do that the time zone comment seems redundant. (Giving a clue as to what time zone he is in would help with the Googling though).

Ebays system for not willing to ship internationally as a US seller is incredibly complicated, so I'm not surprised some have gotten through. They do NOT make it easy! In fact I would swear they make it more complicated! I have to go over my auctions with a fine tooth comb, I  have my preferences set with an exclusion list and yet somehow people have still managed to buy from me internationally...So I'm not surprised by his frustration, and like you I actually lean toward sympathizing with him overall for this and several other reasons....Still, he could handle his wording a little nicer, but I kinda understand where he's coming from if I'm being honest...

[Taffeta]

I think that international would appear in the list of rules if it were actively being blocked. He also said he wasn't going to use GSP again. Two of his auctions have it but the rest don't. Maybe he doesn't know how to add other shipping options if he doesn't usually ship overseas. If he wasn't willing to do that the time zone comment seems redundant. (Giving a clue as to what time zone he is in would help with the Googling though).

Ebays system for not willing to ship internationally as a US seller is incredibly complicated, so I'm not surprised some have gotten through. They do NOT make it easy! In fact I would swear they make it more complicated! I have to go over my auctions with a fine tooth comb, I  have my preferences set with an exclusion list and yet somehow people have still managed to buy from me internationally...So I'm not surprised by his frustration, and like you I actually lean toward sympathizing with him overall for this and several other reasons....Still, he could handle his wording a little nicer, but I kinda understand where he's coming from if I'm being honest...

The seller made it clear to me that he was willing to ship internationally and that he was going to turn off GSP on the next round of auctions in order to do so without the risk of damage to the items. That's what he told me.

I am not personally a fan of own country only shipping but at the end of the day it's the seller's profit that gets the hit, so it's not really my problem. So long as it isn't coupled with the excuse that "foreigners are bad", which so commonly comes up as an excuse, it's really too much bother to concern over.

What I was suggesting was that he didn't know how to turn on normal shipping options since GSP I think is default often on US auctions. And of course international people will still be able to bid because you can't shut off your items from being seen, even if you don't want to ship overseas. Like I said before, it is literally a matter of changing the url.

With the most recent auctions he's added international shipping, albeit the quotes for some of the boxed ones are ridiculous to the UK ($90ish) so I don't quite know where he got his calculations. Max I have ever paid for 3 MIP ponies in one box with full insurance and tracking was around the $50 mark. I guess that's the max insured rate and it may be that it's a flat rate or includes handling but then again I guess if you really wanted something...? I dunno. But he clearly IS willing to ship overseas. It's just going to cost almost as much as the GSP (but probably more safe). I personally wouldn't pay $90 on shipping one MIP item, but some folk might.

On another note, it's been on my mind for a bit, and this is an extreme circumstance, so the discussion is merited - but I wonder how much this and other similar discussions have also added to the problem he's experienced with messages from people. Since we're discussing things here and then maybe several people go to him with the same issue.

Finally - and this is more a query than anything else because again, this is an exceptional circumstance. But links to live auctions are banned. I am wondering to what extent publicising the items on sale when the seller is known is within the rules of the Arena? I would think that's the same thing as posting the link?

The reason that rule was first brought in was because people were having hidden items posted and they were then being bidded up to a ridiculous level and it got quite nasty because people would do it to spite other people - or people would get upset when an auction they'd been watching was 'found'. It was also annoying because people would post links to auctions they had no intention of bidding on, but if the auction they were watching got posted, they'd get upset and it'd create bad feeling. There were lots of reasons the rule was put in place. That being the case, I wonder how giving the name and the items and so on is any different. We all know with this seller so it seems a bit redundant to not talk about it - but in the general bigger picture this discussion and others like it are probably also adding to the price hike by concentrating everyone's attention on these auctions. And that's not good for any of us...

[freezestime]

Hey friends

Does anybody know the dimensions of a boxed Prom Queen Sweetheart sister's box?

Pretty Belle and Sweet Sundrop together results in $200+ for the shipping or $100+ combined isn't really economical, especially with the possibility of paying import fees because perfume. 

[Taffeta]

Hey friends

Does anybody know the dimensions of a boxed Prom Queen Sweetheart sister's box?

Pretty Belle and Sweet Sundrop together results in $200+ for the shipping or $100+ combined isn't really economical, especially with the possibility of paying import fees because perfume. 

I have ChaCha but I can't measure her since she's not with me in London. However the boxes are not really bigger than other pony boxes, just a weird shape. They're rounded at the front (I think the US bride box is the same?) which I guess makes packing them more annoying. It certainly makes putting them in the cupboard more annoying.

BUT IMO the int'l shipping is hiked over what it probably would be, I think this is a seller taking no chances and putting the max option on posting internationally. Another sign that he's probably not used to shipping overseas, because people who are used to shipping MIP items overseas know you can do better than that rate. I think his quote will put people off.

If your border is like ours, you will be charged regardless. Not because of perfume but because of the value of the pony which will be written on the custom form and will be determined by the end bid price.

Incidentally, the rant about blocking isn't on the newest auctions that have international shipping. What's that about?